Ruthenium is the first of the noble metals, the group whose star members are gold and platinum. These metals are expensive, shiny, and often used in jewelry and lab ware. Ruthenium plated jewelry is fairly common, though of course not nearly as common as gold plated. Ruthenium items have a darker, pewter color compared to platings such as silver or rhodium.

Very fine powder (technically "sponge").
This is one of the finest powders I've seen: Very, very powdery. It's also a very unusual color, somehow. Lighter than most powders, in a chocolaty sort of way. Think coffee with a whole lot of milk in it, but less brown and more gray. And of course it's no doubt very pure.Source:David FrancoContributor:Ed Pegg JrAcquired:16 August, 2002Price: $22Size: 0.5"Purity: 99.99%Sample Group:Powders

Sample from the RGB Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.

Sample from the Everest Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (except gases) weigh about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.

Necklace with ruthenium beads.
According to the eBay seller, the pewter-colored beads in this quite pretty necklace are made of solid ruthenium (not plated). Unfortunately, this is not the case. Analysis by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at the Center for Microanalysis of Materials, University of Illinois (partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant DEFG02-91-ER45439) indicates that they are copper-based with a thin plating of gold and ruthenium.

So, on the plus side, they do contain ruthenium and are thus a legitimate sample of this element. But solid ruthenium would have been a lot cooler. From this experience I learned that ruthenium is a commonly used plating for costume jewelry, which means I can add it to the list of elements you can buy at Walmart.

Museum-grade sample.
In early 2004 Max Whitby and I started selling individual element samples identical or similar to the samples we use in the museum displays we build. These are top-quality samples presented in attractive forms appropriate to the particular element. They are for sale from Max's website and also on eBay where you will find an ever-changing selection of samples (click the link to see the current listings).
This bottle contains about 50 grams of arc-melted buttons made in Max's reduced-pressure argon-arc furnace.

I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.

Experimental solar cell.
An experimental solar cell made with ruthenium at Imperial College. I don't know if they have fully thought through the ramifications of ruthenium being one of the more expensive of the metals.Source:Max Whitby of RGBContributor:Max Whitby of RGBAcquired:2 April, 2009Text Updated:3 April, 2009Price: DonatedSize: 1.5"Purity: <5%

Ruthenium Chloride, 99.999%. American Elements is a chemical supplier with a wonderfully refreshing attitude towards element collectors: They actually like small orders from people looking for exotic elements (within reason). They also sell quite a variety of compounds, particularly rare earth salts, many of which are highly colored.
This ball of ruthenium chloride (hexahydrate) is bright orange, very attractive in a poisonous sort of way.Source:American ElementsContributor:American ElementsAcquired:2 June, 2006Text Updated:1 July, 2006Price: donatedSize: 0.5"Composition:RuCl3.3H2O

Big bag of beads. (External Sample)
This is a large ($18,000) order of platinum group metals placed by an excellent customer of my partner Max Whitby's element sales business. I happened to be visiting Max in London just before the order needed to be shipped to our customer in the US, so I hand-carried the precious cargo home rather than risking international shipping. These beads were made by Max in his reduced pressure argon arc furnace.

Big bag of beads. (External Sample)
This is part of a large ($18,000) order of platinum group metals placed by an excellent customer of my partner Max Whitby's element sales business. I happened to be visiting Max in London just before the order needed to be shipped to our customer in the US, so I hand-carried the precious cargo home rather than risking international shipping. These beads are made by Max in his reduced pressure argon arc furnace.

The order consisted of equal volumes of ruthenium, rhenium, osmium, and iridium. Here is what the whole collection looks like:

The customer wishes to remain anonymous, so you'll just have to keep wondering where this remarkable trove of rare metals currently resides: The only thing you can be sure of is that I don't have it.Location: AnonymousPhotographed:4 September, 2007Text Updated:6 September, 2007Size: 0.25"Purity: 99.99%